NSAC: 2018 to be first all-GOP farm bill since 1954

The 2018 rewrite of the farm bill will be the first undertaken by a Republican Senate, House and president since 1954, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition noted in a news release today.

“As we prepare for our first administration change in eight years, the sustainable agriculture community will face many challenges – but it will also not be without opportunities for action and engagement,” said Jeremy Emmi, managing director of NSAC, a group that represents small, environment-minded farmers. “The last time Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and White House during a farm bill year was 1954,” he added.

“This is not a time to sit idle; it is a time for us to reaffirm our commitments to sustainability, equity, and to organizing that starts with the grassroots. With less than three months before the inauguration, there is much work to be done and little time to waste,” he said.

Emmi also said the group would prepare recommendations for President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, fight in the appropriations process for funding for conservation, research, local food systems programs, try to protect contract farmers’ rights and prepare for the 2018 farm bill.

–The Hagstrom Report